kurobokuyablog

[kurobokuyablog]

snake oil と ガマの油

I heard that there is a word "snake oil" in English. When I heard it in VRC world, I was surprised because the Japanse language also has a similar word "ガマの油(toad oil)". The use are the same, it means "a medicine that may or may not be effective".

Toad oil is said that it is extracted from warts on a toad, and is said to be good for a scar. It is sold like that way: a samurai like man with katana(of course that is an immitation) give a speech, this medicin is rare and very effective to wounds, and he cuts his arm with katana. Don't warry, that katana is a fake, there's no power to take a damage. Though it has a function that splash blood-like-red-liquid. So, his arm would be painted red. And he spread ガマの油 on the scar, then, the scar would seem to become cured completely, in instant. Of course, that is a kind of magic show, the audience would know about it, but some of them would buy the medicine to pay for his entertainment.

And people who do something like this, are called 香具師（yashi）. Surprisingly, there is a word "charlatan" in English. apparently, those words have the similar chance to use, a fishy man who try to sell some strange matter, sometimes it is used to a bad politician or so.

I heard those in EN-JP world. It is very interesting that there sometimes word that I realize the common point between English and Japan. Whenever I go to VRC world, I bring some words back. It is a fun of going EN-JP world.

[kurobokuyablog]

The first step as a Japanse teacher

I started joining a volunteer Japanese school the last month. Though I hadn't known, there were some Japanese lessons held at kinds of community centers. I joined and observed some classes, and I decided to be a volunteer teacher in a school.

At the first time, I wasn't told what students I would be assigned for. So, anyway, I went to a community center, with some textbooks and iPad contains a lot of slides.

I thought, a newby teacher would be assigned for beginners, who didn't know about Japanse at all. But against that, the student was a boy who grew up in Japan from 1 year old. So he seemed to have no issues to conversation with Japanse.

I and he told about One piece, or nowaday's elementary school, with Japanese. It is apt to be for such 10 years old boys, that they have difficulty to tell the information that they only know but listeners don't know. Sometimes they speak out like one way, regardless of wheather listeners know or not.

But he wasn't. When the topic came into One piece, He took comfirmations wheather I know it or not. He understood that I and you were different things. It might sound strange for you, but for kids, they have the consciousness that I and you are the same. It might be originagted from the fact that a fetus and its mother are the same body. But as they grow, they get the distinction between I and not I. He recognized me as a person who didn't belong to his world, so he took confirmation for me about the knowledge that would not be shared with.

Anyway, he could use Japanse in such deep way. To use Japanse doesn't mean only being able to speak, read, listen. To think about others, and communicate with people, and eventually, taking part in the society, those are very called "using language", so he seemed to have the ability for me.

But sometimes, in the trivial points, he seemed to have holes. I used difficult expressions like what buisiness men use, at that times, he seemed ignore those expressions and tried to proceed the coversation. That was like me who tried to continue a conversation ignoring words I hadn't known when I faced with an English speaker.

But totally, his Japanse was very good for his age, maybe he exceeded other boys. However, he said he was not good at Kanji characters. It is the common issue for Japanse learners who aren't Chinese.

I'm going to have the second lesson in this Suturday. At that time, I will bring some test based on One piece. I will teach him the all of Kanji characters in the preface of "We are", and test wheather he understand the content of lines.

And I'm making a plan that I make him memorize 200 Kanji characters that are going to be taught in the elementary school in this year, in a first half of this year. Though I will have to be fixing this plan continusly, this will be my first step as a Japanese teacher.

[kurobokuyablog]

Different sakuras

The sakura season has been gone in Japan. Sakura suddenly starts blooming from a tree without leaves, and tells the arrival of spring.

And it often rains in this season. It is called "花散らしの雨Hana chirashi no ame", means the rain that scatters sakura petals. It is also rainning now.

Anyway, the season turned into spring. However, it became cold sometimes, there could be 3 cold days and 4 warm days. It is called "三寒四温 San kan shi on", means seasons changes into spring, with waves of cold days and warm days, but the warm eventually exceeds the cold.

And I said, sakura petals were scattered, but there are a lot of species, so each species has different season. This is 寒緋桜(Kanhi zakura), which blooms earlier. After now we can see the blooming of 八重桜(Yae zakura), following normal sakura 染井吉野(somei yoshino). 八重yae means "8 times", 八重桜 has more petals than 染井吉野, though those are not truely 8 times. Thouse kinds of 八重 expressions are just "many".

[kurobokuyablog]

A huge ancient Sakura tree

It's Sakura season now in Japan. Sakura is a tree blooms flowers in this season, but the term only last for a week or so. It's already the end of the season.

I went to the place called 印旛吉高の大桜(imba yoshitaka no oosakura), where a huge ancient Sakura tree and other flowers. The picture is the 大桜, standing for 400 years. Ordinary Sakura trees is 染井吉野(someiyoshino)、which was created by breeding improvement at Edo era, but this tree is an ancient species existing before 染井吉野(someiyoshino). It blooms like a hill, huge chunk of flowers tells us coming of spring.

When it comes spring, I want to go there but sometimes I miss the season. This is not 染井吉野(someiyoshino), so the term it blooms is different from them. Generally it follows 染井吉野(someiyoshino) blooms, but this year it is almost the same to 染井吉野(someiyoshino). I luckily met just in time.

This tree is huge, so the smell is also stronger than ordinary one. It recall me the smell of this:

This is 桜餅(sakura mochi), mochi including あんこ(anko) is coverd with a leaf of Sakura. When you bit it, the smell of Sakura would remind your spring memory.

[kurobokuyablog]

I lost a friend.

From the beginning, I started coming EN-JP world in order to learn English. I hoped to meet English user, native English speaker. So I was interested in A, more than R, at least for R, it seemed so.

To have multiple friends sometimes require ranking. Especially in VRC, we have to choose an option. If the list shows there were multiple friend in other worlds apart, there would be options that, to go to 1, or to go to 2, or to make an instance yourself. Those ways are the same to choose, or rank your friends. You should make the priority to your friends.

It should be learned at a sand-box of a park in your infantive age. When you were a child, you should choose whom you wanted to meet and play with. And if you went to a sand-box, if there were children you had met, whom could you focus on, you had to know such things through your experience, including a lot of false. I never thought that I became to have those kinds of experience after I went out the sand-box.

And I chose A. To know about English, I was apt to ask questions for A, than R. A was a native speaker, R was not.

One day, when we three had a conversation, I asked somthing about English to A. At that time, I felt that R became uncomfotable, through the VR head set. "He pursue the knowledge of English, not Russian", he might think so. After that day, I became not to have the chance to meet him.

VRC is just a kind of a game, I think so. Almost of players consume games for several days or week, and they graduate themselves from the game. It is fortune. So, players I've met quit VRC one after another. Eventually, my friend list is filled with players I couldn't recall.

To lose friend is just an ordinary thing in VRC. Now I have friends, but I don't know when I lose them. However, that would be life.

[kurobokuyablog]

The relation among VRC players

That was the right side of the point where players appear when they get in the main plaza. When I and my Russian friend(R) talked about Japanse grammer issue, he spoke out to us. I'm not sure what he said, but after that, he joined us and continued discussing.

He(A) came from America, so he was a native speaker of English. And he spoke Japanese fluently, had a great interest to Japanese, and language itself.

At this point, I will write about the relation among points where you position in EN-JP world.

The more you were near to the entry point, the more chance to be spoken out by people. Although of course, all of players enter from that point, at that time, if you caught some interesting talking occasionally, you could be interested in. So, if you wanted to meet someone whom you hadn't known, you could position at the point.

On the contrary, if you wanted not to be spoken out, you could position on the hill. Positioning hills allows you to observe the entire of the plaza. No one would pay any attention for you, so you could listen to talking.

Although that was just a detour, I remember where I positioned at a paticullar time. For humans, the memory of location would weigh a heavy function. Anyway, we met at that point.

And the next time, I and R talked about some English issue, neither of us couldn't understand it because we weren't native speaker. I needed help. At that time, A came to us. I said, "アメリカ人来た！" clearly remember that. I asked a lot of English issues for A, some of them might make him to be fed up.

After that, I became to get more times we met. For me, that were happy times. I could inhale a lot of English knowledge, and I was realized a lot of Japanese issues.

The relation among players flows like a river. And the same moment of a river never come again.

That situation might not be what R hoped. I think, in current persepective.

[kurobokuyablog]

I got a friend

And we became to have conversation about languages in EN-JP world, 3 times or so for a week. He had a great interest in Japanese, and asked me a lot of things. I, of course, as a native speaker of Japanese, hadn't had any doubt like those about my mother tongue. "「山に登る」と「山を登る」は何が違うのか" "「は」と「が」は何が違うのか" "「～をする」と「～する」は何が違うのか" those kinds of questions were what I hadn't felt strange ever. He dawned on me about the mystery of language for me.

And I asked about English, my English slowly improved. I looked up words I needed, and I searched books in libraries shown what I didn't understand about Japanese. It reminds the days I spent in my art university. At that time, I and my friend stayed at a cafeterrior, and we talked about the aesthetics of anime. That was a distant memory.

At first, I went to the world with some compulsory mind. I had to learn English, though I didn't have any firm purpose. But after I met him, the purpose became changed. I went to the world because he was there. I got a friend that meant the true friend, I thought.

Then, through the days of the world, I met another friend.

[kurobokuyablog]

The hesitance for 30 min

I thought the Japanese language was a small thing. It was minor, no one wanted to learn, I thought. But in fact, the population of Japanese users as the mother tongue is over 130000000, it is within top 10 in the world. Because, first, Japan has big population for its small land, in addition, all of Japanse speaks Japanse while in the world there are a lot of countries where multiple languages are used. And they say, the information written in Japanese ranks 4th in ammount in the Internet.

In short, there were more people who want to learn Japanse than I thought. I was surprised. I thought there should not be. But actually, the Russian students wanted to devour the knowledge of Japanese. At that point, I changed my mind.

After that, I continued coming the world and met a lot of guys sporadically. Almost them stopped coming the world for 1 or 2 times. My list became filled friends whom I never met again.

Through such days, I found a guy. I remember where point we talked. At the plateau left to the entrance, we had a conversation. I asked "Can I ask where you come from?", such a kind of question, and he answered he came from Russia. And he wanted to learn Japanese. We talked about the difference between "は" and "が", transitive verbs and intransitive verbs, maybe. Do Russian people generally have interest about grammer? I thought so.

We talked over 1 hour, and I think, my QUEST2's buttery became about to die, so I had to quit the session. We exchanged friend requests, and left.

And the next time, he was indicated on the list of my friend list. VRC has the function that shows the location of your friends, and that shows he was in EN-JP world. I had a hesitation. I hadn't had experience that there was a friend before I entered the world, so I didn't know it was polite or not, wheather I would join or not. I think, I couldn't decided to join or not for 30 minute, eventually I got joined in.

When I entered the world, he seemed to listen to a group's talking, but he left there and came to me, and we started to talk the sequel of the conversation we had at the previous time. And those meeting would continue.

[kurobokuyablog]

細まるという言葉は

There are several instances in EN-JP world always. Depends on time zone, 60-100 people are there. You might think the number is small for those kinds of online game. But there are numerous numbers of world in VRC, and 99% worlds have no players in it. Only hundreds of world come up to the list of popular worlds. Almost of VRC world are void. Kinds of theme parks that was abandoned shortly after they were born. Though that is one of interesting aspect of VRC... Anywany, in such situation, EN-JP world keeps 100 members in it. It should be amazing.

That was when I continued to shift instances and was wandering the world. I met some guys who talked about the conjugation issues about Japanese language with Japanese. Status showed they were Russian. Russian guys talked about Japanse language, such a scene kept my eyes on. I walked down the hill to the plaza, and I approached them.

In VRC, no one mind if someone listen to one's talking behind the one. Actually, the view of a player is narrower than you think. I listened to their arguement for 15 minute.

And the one guy said, ”「細める」という言葉に対して「ほそまる」という言葉はあるのだろうか”. At that time, I couldn't help answering. I spoke out "「細くなる」と言うしかないですねえ" maybe such a kind of line. They said, "なぜないのか、自動詞と他動詞の変化に何か規則はあるのか(Why there aren't? Are there any rules when a verb changes into transitive verb from intransitive varb)". And we started argument about that. I remember, a situation that they have to use 細まる never come, because there is no case that some pipe thing became thinner without human hands. But there is 狭まる against 狭める, in this case there would be some case that a road or something became narrow because of natural incident, for instance by a falling tree, I might say kinds of that. In the percepective of today's me, the situation that requires 細まる should be, the case that some ice pillar became melt into thinner one naturally. Anyhow, at that time I was let think about Japanese grammer issue by them, who had interst about Japanese, were from Russia.

They seemed students of an university, might take Japanese course. They seemed to exchange some pictures on Discord though from my sight, I couldn't see them. Anyway, I became to change my thought. I thought, Japanese was very minor language and no one want to know about it, but in fact, there were guys who want to get the knowledge of Japanese greedly. I eventually realized that.

After that, there weren't any chance to meet them again.

[kurobokuyablog]

more than 2 times

I was wandering in EN-JP world. I wandered the world, but almost of people made cicles of 5-6 people. That kinds of strong castle walls were hard to brake. So I went to take contacts with persons who was alone. They were typically beginners of this game, and aspired to comunicate with a person who used Japanese or English, that are different language to their mother toungues.

I found a person who observe the plaza. Typically they sat on a bench, or in an isolated room. There could be persons who stood by the side of a group, but to speak out such a person also got attention of the group. "Hello", if I said that to the one, however unexpectedly 5-6 people could trun to me, I was afraid to such a situation.

Like that, I had conversation with players who used English sporadically. "Can I ask where you come from?" I asked, and the one answered. "Why do you want to learn Japanese?" those kinds of questions are common tactics in the world, even now I use them to new faces.

Then, after 1 hour or so, I got tired because to prossece the information of English requires the brain resource too much. That was like the situation that a beginner drove a car remembering a textbook. Then we exchanged frend requirements, and logged out. In the next time, I await to meet the friend again, but the one never came. That was a typical VRC life of mine. Almost of players who came to the world quitted it for 1 or 2 times, saying "I want to learn Japanese". Ya, there are a lot of way to contact with other languge users, other than VRC. They might shift into other way, or might quit to learn language. There's no way to know it.

So, my friend list became to have over 100 friends, but It was rare to have contact with people of them more than 2 times.

In those days, I met some guys.

[kurobokuyablog]

Walk around hills

I started to go to a public instance of EN-JP language exchange world. I didn't accurately remember when I started. At the first time, only the sence of duty drove me. I had the thought that I must get the ability to speak English, though there was not any certain purpose. However I decided, that I went to this world 1 hour for 3 days for a week.

I got in an instance, and there were about 30 guys. But I used to go around the edge of the tiny vinnet, without having conversations. The world is well considered, there is a plaza in the center, and hills surrounds it. People who want to have a conversation can go to the plaza where a lot of guys hanging out, and people who want to listen to conversations to search their partners can climb on hills and observe the entire of the plaza. If they wanted to have a academic topic and needed pens to write, they could go to rooms separated from plaza. This world has fanctions that people who want to learn language.

So I walked around the plaza, climbing hills. I could hear what they say, though, sometimes I couldn't understand because of fluent English or other languages. And I always were wandering the edge of the world to find someone.

It is common concern, almost of VRC players feel it is difficult to join a circle already made. Typically, there must be circles made by 5-6 peoples, closed circles. To interrupt those circles requires brave much. Even if those were people who used the same language to you, it would be too difficult. Furthermore, for me, an English beginner, shall have hesitate.

On the other hand, to interrupt 2 guys pair is so hard as well. Especially, if the distance between 2 were too close, they could be お砂糖. There should not be the room to brake their world. Even if it weren't, if there were a guy who were JP 100% fluent and EN beginner, and EN 50% JP beginner, and the JP guy taught Japanese to another, if I interrupted between the 2, the equilibrium should become disturbed. JP fluent En beginner * 2 : JP beginner, in such a case, the amount of JP guys' talking should inclease, that isn't what I want. And if JP beginner left, there would be 2 JP guys. The atomosphere between the 2 left would become awkward.

So, to meet a partner in the world was so hard for me. Sometimes I had to stick around for 30 min-1 hour, or more. This problem remains even for now.

[kurobokuyablog]

Where I should go

I continued joining the EN-JP exchange event. I prepared manuscripts, and I presented them. I could not say anything I didn't arrange.

While time went on, the event became bigger, members in a room incleased to over 6. At once, when I joind the room, there were members expanded to 11. At such situation, there was no room to interupt the flow of conversation, I spend 1 hour with only a self introduction. I became to have a doubt if I got any progress from the place.

And I became to have interest to the public instance of that world. Of course there always are public instance other than the event instance, where any people can come to.

But as I said, I had an afraid of joining public internet space. At PUBG, they sometimes were so savage that I could not have any comunication with. So, I thought, if I went to a public instance, I could not have any good experience.

But simultaneously, I had a small hope to the place. So, I went to a public instance several 10 minutes before the EN-JP event started.

It was a calm, gentle world there. In the public space, there were people who aspired the knowledge of languges. I walked around the world, and looked at people. There was no killing, no quarrel, no conflict. They talk with Japanese and English making small groups, and seemed to teach typical issues of language learning, like "To distinguish R and L is difficult for Japanese", "漢字が読めない".

I was way surprised. Internet public space should be a killing field where people had a dirty fight, such a though of mine defeated. At that time, I felt I knew where I should go. That was 1 year after I started to go to the EN-JP event.

[kurobokuyablog]

I got into another room. In the room, the introduction phase was already in progress. I had to interupt it, said "あーどうもすみませんなんか隣の部屋が三人しかいなかったもんで他の部屋に入れてもらおう、っていうことになりまして……入れて戴いても宜しいでしょうか" something like that, and I succeeded to enter the circle.

I used not to communicate with people before that, especially in VRChat, I hadn't experienced those kinds of trouble, but at that time I could solve a small incident by myself. Although I said only Japanese...but "language" is not only the ability of pronounciation nor grammer. It includes communication. Language is a very way to solve trouble among people, and a tool to take part in a society. If you could speak a model text with the second language well, but if you could not solve a trouble with people who speaks that language, it would not indicate you could use the language. When I got it became way after that, however I had experienced a model from that time.

Anyway, I could join a circle and I start going the event. I became continuing joining the event for...one year? Every weekends, I joined the event. Certainly, my pronounciation became better, but it was becase I read manuscripts I prepared before. The ability communicate with abroad people seemed to be in stagnation.

In those days, I had an encounter.

[kurobokuyablog]

人の数が少なすぎる

I started joining the EN-JP language exchange event. At the first time, I had a trouble.

At that event, first, the eventer divides people into several groups that have 5-6 members. And they enter rooms separated each other....

I was assigned to a group. And I entered a room. But there were only 3 participants for some reason. Before I got in the room, there must be 4, I thought so, but we had only 3 in a room. And one guy left the room because of a microphone trouble. So only 2 remained in the room.

Would I talk with only the guy left? I doubted I could keep topics for one hour with my poor comunication skill...I thought so. Then, my partner said, "人の数が少なすぎる。他の部屋に入れてもらいましょう" He must be an English speaker, but I can understand his Japanese easily.

So we went out the room. I thought, we 2 would go to another room together, but he said we should separate and get in rooms each other. If 2 members gotten in, they would lose the balance. It was better to disperse. I had some anxiety, and came to think, I wanted to get back home. However, there was no way other than his propose if I could continue. Thinking of that from now, at that time, if I gotten back home, I couldn't have interacted with English like today's me. ....I decided, and got into another room alone.

[kurobokuyablog]

Of all the first event

When I got to the world, I was so surprised. Because, I thought that online game players were so savage. I was killed numerous times by them.

But there was a place that was calm, gentle, peaceful. There were only players who want to learn language other than mother tongue, they starved to knowledge and chance to get something.

My first vist of EN-JP world in VRChat was a langage exchange event. They hold events that everyone who want to learn Japanese or English can join. I knew the event from an event calender of VRC. Or I watched movies introduce VRC worlds, I'm not sure. Anyway, I entered the gate of the language exchange world.

There were over 30 people, and when the time came, the eventer divided us into groups consisted of 5~6 people. We entered a room separated from other groups, and we had a conversation about the theme that they announced in Discord.

And we introduced ourselves in order. I...maybe wrote manuscript that I translated using AI, but at that time, I didn't have any way to read text in VR world. I wore VR headset, so I couldn't read note. I fixed this point using the app allowed me to make a VR display in VR next week. Anyway, I didn't have any confidence wheather my pronaunciation reached to English speakers, but I couldn't read manuscript, so I memorized manusicript by reading out continuosly.

Ya, I had concern about pronunciation. I thought, English had something strict rule to pronounce, so I couldn't be away from that narrow, severe line.

Nevertheless, unexpectedly my introduce reached easily. That would be way late, the types of pronunciation varies much, so even limited to Americans, there are a lot of way to utterance. So, my typical japanese pronunciation was just a kind of accent for English speakers.

I recalled it now, so, of all the first event, I had some trouble. I will write about it next....

[kurobokuyablog]

Starving to the chance

When I started translating my work into an English edition, there was no AI transrator. So I had to study English with text book or web sites. I took 2 hours for 1 page to translate.

But today AI transrator made me translate a page for 15 minute. All I have to do become to check and give a permission to a translated line. So, I shouldn't need the English ability. Yet I went to the En-JP language exchange world.

Through my work, I realized that there was no chance to speak or listen to English. Thinking of that, the English education in Japan doesn't consider about speaking or listening. I only was taught about grammer or terms.

Everyone says that was trush, but I don't think so. Having the knowledge of English and terms, it makes me google parts that I can't understand. If I didn't know terms, I couldn't even look up those in internet. So the education works as making foundation now I stand. Now I'm on the ground that I consolidated by studying in my junior-high or high school age.

However, there certainly is lack of practis for speaking and listening to people's talking. I might starve to having the chance I can use the knowledge I had gotten.

So, those feelings might make me get to EN-JP language exchange world....

[kurobokuyablog]

When I found VRChat was, according to my photos, March, 2022. At that time, I used a desktop PC to log in. After I broke my RTX 3060, in order to join NEOKET, I bought 1650. It was decent to play VRChat solely, but when I went to Vket, an event held in VRChat, my PC slowed so down that I couldn't even open a menu. Because there were a lot of people who imposed my PC to process information. So, to go to world full of people, it was a burden for my PC.

Ya, I might hope to go to the world to meet other players deep in my heart. I might not think that solo play was my purpose. Then, I sold my broken 3060 in cheep price in online market, and bought 3060Ti instead. It made my PC enhanced, and I started to join some events for VRC begginers.

All I wanted might be communication with other people... Playing PUBG, joining NEOKET, everything was for communication that I might adomire in the secret area of my heart.

And I found an event, that is for language exchange, which English learners and Japanese learners talk each other.

Originally, I had to get the abillity to translate my works into english editions, from the age that we didn't have any AI transrator. At that time, I had to translate by myself, referring text books or websites explained English grammer. One page required two hours.

But at that time, we became to have AI translator, so it already made me to transrate one page for 15 minute. It meant, I didn't have to have the abillity to use English by myself.

Yet, I desided to join the language exchange event. Why? I suppose to consider about that.